The popular science contest features ingenious gadgets made by Kindergarten through Eighth Grade Students

What: Young inventors from kindergarten through eighth grade will compete on January 25, 2014 in the 27th Annual Irvine Valley College (IVC) “Astounding Inventions” competition, presented by the Orange County Office of Greenberg Traurig, LLP and the Irvine Valley College Foundation.

Where: The 2014 competition and exhibition will be held in IVC’s Hart Gymnasium and feature a variety of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) activities, displays and demonstrations.

How: More than 450 students from South Orange County will present inventions that they have conceived and crafted on their own. The students will compete for $10,000 in cash prizes, certificates of achievement and ribbons from the Irvine Valley College Foundation. The inventions will be grouped by grade level and will be judged on their originality, usefulness, and a written description and illustration submitted by the student. Over sixty judges representing the scientific, education, civic and business communities will determine the winners at the event. In addition, as part of its title sponsorship, Greenberg Traurig selects two student’s inventions from the event (one from Irvine Unified School District and one from Tustin Unified School District), based on the perceived patentability, and offers to conduct a pro bono prior art search and write a provisional patent application for the invention.

Who: During the fall of 2013, nearly 4,000 students representing 40 schools in the Irvine and Tustin Unified School Districts submitted their inventions for judging at their schools. From this, approximately 450 finalists are chosen to compete in the 2014 Astounding Inventions Competition. Past inventions have run from the whimsical to the remarkable and have included dozens of clever pet grooming devices, remote control gizmos, and relief from everyday challenges of children and their parents. The event was conceived by Irvine Valley College in 1987 to promote creativity and interest in STEM education in our community. Award winners may go on to compete at different levels of state and national math and science invention competitions.

The Irvine Valley College Marketing, Communications & Broadcast Services Department has made reasonable efforts to provide information that is accurate at the time of this posting.